1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a radio-frequency coil arrangement of the type having a number of conductor tracks or traces (paths) forming basic coils with capacitors interlaced within said conductor traces, with conductor traces of various basic coils intersecting at node points.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Radio-frequency coil arrangements of the above type are used in magnetic resonance apparatuses, wherein they fulfill a dual function. They serve for the emission (transmission) of radio-frequency fields for excitation of the nuclear spins in a region to be examined; and they also serve for the reception of the measurement signals. A number of single or basic coils that frequently overlap to form overlap regions are embodied in a radio-frequency coil arrangement. These overlap regions can be designed such that the basic coils are decoupled from one another, meaning that they do not mutually influence one another in the transmission and reception modes.
The size and arrangement of the individual coils of the radio-frequency coil arrangement represents a design criterion. Although a high measurement field with high penetration depth can be achieved with large coils, these exhibit a poor signal-to-noise ratio due to their large area. The signal-to-noise ratio is improved given use of smaller coils but penetration depth and measurement field are therefore reduced. Furthermore, measurement and evaluation time aspects must also be considered.
Radio-frequency coil arrangements are therefore produced in a targeted manner for specific applications, such that various radio-frequency coil arrangements are employed for various application cases. An exchange of the radio-frequency coil arrangement is then required between these applications, which is very complicated or even impossible (in particular given structurally integrated radio-frequency coil arrangements).